Bill > SJR7

This resolution proposes an amendment to the West Virginia Constitution that would establish a right to reproductive freedom for every individual, encompassing decisions about contraception, fertility treatment, continuing a pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. The amendment would prevent the state from burdening, penalizing, prohibiting, interfering with, or discriminating against an individual's exercise of these rights or those who assist them, unless the state can show it's using the least restrictive means to protect the individual's health based on widely accepted medical standards. Importantly, it allows for the prohibition of abortion after fetal viability, which is defined as the point when a fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus, determined by a physician on a case-by-case basis. However, even after fetal viability, an abortion cannot be prohibited if a physician determines it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life or health. This proposed amendment, to be voted on by the public in 2026, is titled the "Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Amendment."

Justice

http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Resolution_History.cfm?year=2026&sessiontype=RS&input4=7&billtype=JR&houseorig=S&btype=res